The Way Out

“What have you done?!”
“You’re so clumsy!”
“I’ve told you to be careful!”

Have you ever accidentally broken some glasses? If you have, those comments might sound familiar to you.
Usually, breaking glasses is not something people would do intentionally. We did it by accident and sometimes we get the blame, or we blame ourselves for not being careful.
What if you break glasses purposely? For people like me who don’t normally do it, it did make me feel it’s something terrible and I shouldn’t be doing.
I remember watching Adele’s music video “Rolling in the deep.” I was so impressed and stunned by the plates being smashed throughout the video, and it was so cool.
There is a power in doing things we aren’t supposed to do. A liberal feeling, I guess.
I WAS ACTUALLY SCARED when I tried smashing the wine glasses. The glasses weren’t as fragile as I thought. They were tough to break. I used 2 glasses to smash them together. I kept making them hit each other several times and before they broke, they made such terrible loud noise that made drumming in my ears.
But it feels pretty cool after it’s done.

It’s a project I have wanted to do for 3-4 years. I thought about it for a long time. Looking at the sets of champagne and wine glasses on my studio storage floor, I felt I had to do something about it. It wasn’t easy to come out with a good concept. That’s why I left it so long.

Here are some safety notes if you decide to use broken glasses for your next photography project. ( Disclaimer: If you are under 18, do not try this at home or you must ask your parents or guardians’ permission. We do not responsible for any injury that might occur.)

1. Put a paper towel down before you smash the glasses. It will be easier to catch the small pieces that cause injuries.
2. Use a glove to pick large broken pieces for the shoot. Carefully roll up the paper towel with the small pieces of glass and throw it away. In this way, the small broken glasses will not cut through the rubbish bag and fall out.
3. Choose the lighting and background that will show the glasses easily. My top was in cream colour; with the lighting setup, they would be very easy to go invisible if I placed the glass in front of my top.